Standard Lemma guide

preservative

adj · noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /prɪˈzəːvətɪv/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P R IY0 Z ER1 V AH0 T IH0 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Tending to preserve.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The curators took preservative actions to maintain the ancient collection.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any agent, natural or artificial, that acts to preserve, especially when added to food.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Salt, sugar, and acid all act as preservatives when making pickles.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

tending or having the power to preserve

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • timbers should be treated with a preservative substance

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a chemical compound that is added to protect against decay or decomposition

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: compound, chemical compound

Narrower terms: spice

History

Etymology

From Old French preservatif, from Medieval Latin praeservativus.

Across languages

Translations

47 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: предпазващ (predpazvašt) — tending to preserve
  • Chinese Mandarin: 防腐的 (fángfǔ de) — tending to preserve
  • Finnish: säilyttävä — tending to preserve
  • Galician: preservativo — tending to preserve
  • Galician: preservativa — tending to preserve
  • Greek: συντηρητικός (syntiritikós) — tending to preserve
  • Irish: leasaitheach — tending to preserve
  • Italian: preservativo — tending to preserve
  • Polish: zapobiegawczy — tending to preserve
  • Portuguese: preservador — tending to preserve
  • Slovak: konzervačný — tending to preserve
  • Spanish: preservativo — tending to preserve
  • Arabic: مَادَّة حَافِظَة — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Catalan: preservador — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Chinese Mandarin: 防腐劑 /防腐剂 (fángfǔjì) — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Czech: konzervant — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Danish: konserveringsmiddel — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Dutch: conserveermiddel — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Dutch: bewaarmiddel — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Estonian: säilitusaine — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Finnish: säilöntäaine — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • French: conservateur — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • French: préservateur — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Galician: conservante — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Georgian: კონსერვანტი (ḳonservanṭi) — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • German: Konservierungmittel — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Greek: συντηρητικό (syntiritikó) — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Hungarian: tartósítószer — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Indonesian: bahan pengawet — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Italian: conservante — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Japanese: 防腐剤 (bōfuzai) — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Norwegian Bokmål: konserveringsmiddel — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: konserveringsmiddel — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Polish: konserwant — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Polish: środek konserwujący — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Portuguese: preservante — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Portuguese: conservante — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Romanian: conservant — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Russian: консерва́нт (konservánt) — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Spanish: conservante — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Spanish: preservante — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Spanish: preservativo — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Swedish: konserveringsmedel — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Turkish: koruyucu — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Ukrainian: консерва́нт (konservánt) — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Vietnamese: chất bảo quản — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
  • Welsh: cadwolyn — any agent, natural or artificial that acts to preserve
Real reading context

preservative in complete knowledge articles